Processes for solidifying waste are known in the art. The most common treatments for aqueous waste are either to process the aqueous waste at a waste water treatment plant so that the water can be purified, or mixing the aqueous waste water with quick lime (kiln dust) on approximately a 1:1 ratio by weight to solidify the waste. Cement ash is also used in place of quick lime in some applications. Because the absorption and solidification of aqueous waste by quick lime or cement ash may take several days, and because the mixture of solidifying agents with aqueous waste on a 1:1 ratio substantially increases the weight of the waste to be disposed of at a landfill, thereby increasing the landfill tipping cost, many attempts have been made to improve the processes for solidifying aqueous waste.
For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,901 discloses a method for encapsulating liquid of finely divided solid waste by uniformly dispersing the waste into a liquid thermosettable polymer composition and thereafter curing the waste/polymer under thermal and catalytic conditions. U.S. Pat. No. 4,119,560 discloses that the use of sodium sulfate, portland cement, and urea-formaldehyde are known agents used in solidifying liquid waste.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,723 teaches a method of encapsulation of ion exchange resins by mixing with (1) boric acid or nitrate or sulfate salts, (2) a fouling agent and a base accelerator, and (3) cement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,707 describes a method for solidification of waste containing water using core shell polymer particles which are neutralized with a base to cause swelling and encapsulation of liquid waste materials subsequent to the neutralization process.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,688 illustrates a technique to seal leaking landfill structures by utilizing a hydraulic fracturing technique to inject a mixture of a propant, a polymer, and a gelling or polymer cross-linking agent. None of these efforts have proved completely satisfactory.